We went back to Balboa Park to explore. Any close parking seems to be challenging to find, but we did manage to find a spot about a 1/2 mile away. There were lots of outdoor vendors and buskers out. It was a busy happy vibe.
We walked around a little bit. We were hoping to see the Spreckles Pipe Organ show, but they have moved it to a virtual show (Covid). The buildings in the park are beautiful and have really neat architecture. Even the building housing the organ has ornate details.
We finished our day with a drive up to Torrey Pines Natural Reserve. It was extremely pretty. There was a paid parking lot nearby, but also some parking right next to the beach. Our truck really enjoyed the parking spot looking at the ocean. We had started keeping the swimsuits in the truck in case we want to stop somewhere while exploring, which worked out great at Torrey Pines. Their beach looked amazing, so we got changed and grabbed the boogie board. There were bigger waves than we had had before, but we still had lots of fun.
There are also hiking trails at Torrey Pines, so I’m hoping we can go back and walk around the park. It is a really pretty area.
Today had a lot going on. Condensed version: swimming at the beach, electric scooters, hammocking, and sea lion watching.
We had walked the beach and visited beach areas, but we had not gone swimming in the ocean yet! Ben really wanted to go to the ocean, so we picked Mission Beach for our first swimming here. There is a lot more parking around here than at some of the other beaches. We brought the boogie board we bought at Costco for the boys to try.
The sun was out and the temperature was around 80. The water was colder than I was expecting it to be, but we adjusted pretty quickly. The waves were the perfect height for us, probably too small for surfing but good for the boys to try out the board. We had lots of fun in the water, but it definitely wore us out! The boys did ok on the boogie board. (VIDEO: Ocean Waves)
We rinsed off at the outdoor showers and headed back to the truck to get changed into regular clothes. We grabbed some tacos for a quick lunch. Ben had been craving fish tacos since we were so close to the ocean. We thought we could surely find much fresher fish this close to the ocean. The lobster was shipped in from Maine, but some of the fish was local. We tried two different restaurants at Mission Beach for the tacos: one was fresh fish, one was fried fish. Ben liked the fresh fish better, as you could actually taste fish not just fried.
After eating, we walked the boardwalk from Mission to Pacific Beach. It was fun walking and seeing the different storefronts. After the swimming and the walking, we were tired but still had to walk back to the truck. (I want to say it was 1.5-2 miles each way.) San Diego has a ton of rental electric scooters, both the traditional stand up and ones that have seats. We rented two different brands: Razor and Wheels.
I liked the Wheels better. They seemed to have better control over the speed (turn handle like a motorcycle), and two brake handlebars. The Razor did have a basket though. These things can really go! You have to download an app to rent and pay for the scooter. I think they were both $1 to unlock, Razor was $0.37/minute (plus a sales tax and a San Diego Registration Fee for $1.53), Wheels was $0.32/minute (with a Minimum Fare of $3.49). Razor actually unlocks the scooter when you scan to rent it. Wheels, however, just doesn’t have electric power, but you could still use it to scoot along with your feet (which we saw several people doing). You ride until you decide you are done (or the bike dies), and then you need to use the app to finish your ride/charge. The meter keeps running until you end your ride on the app. Both of them required that you take a picture of where you left the scooter as well. Wheels ended up being cheaper, as they had a cheaper per minute rate and did not charge a sales tax/registration fee.
It was lots of fun, although a little scary when we were near cars. I think it was probably a one time experience, but they were super nice to have when you’re tired and have to get back to your car!
Check back tomorrow for our adventure in hammocking and sea lions!
